The present invention is directed to a textured glass yarn fabric for use as wallcoverings, acoustical paneling and acoustical ceiling tiles and a method of making the same.
Glass yarns have long been used to make carpets and other pile fabrics. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,764,448, incorporated by reference herein, discloses a glass pile fabric for use as carpeting and upholstery. Glass yarns have also been used as draperies. U.S. Pat. No. 4,078,110 discloses a flexible pile thermal barrier insulator comprised of yarns, warp yarns, pile yarns and stuffers made of silicon dioxide.
However, wallcoverings, i.e., wall paper, have typically been made from paper or vinyl. Other wallcoverings include paint and fabric wallcoverings. However, such wallcoverings are not easily cleanable, and in some cases, may be toxic. Recent regulations require toxicity and flammability testing on home furnishings. These prior products do not satisfy the toxicity and/or flammability standards set forth in the industry. Another type of available wallcovering is made from a 100% polyolefin material. However, this material has shown to involve installation problems. Moreover, fabric, vinyl and polyolefin wallcoverings are very expensive.
There are three areas where synthetic products used to make textile wallcoverings, panel fabrics, and ceiling tiles, are an especially high public health risk due to their chemical formulas. First, is smoke inhalation and combustion toxicity caused by noxious gases given off by synthetics when they burn. Second, is sick building syndrome in which volatile organic chemical off gassing creates indoor air pollution. Third, is such synthetics are not inherently flame resistant and chemicals must be added to make the synthetic products inherently flame resistant so as to resist ignition when a flame is held under it. When the chemical content of a synthetic material is increased, a toxic, noxious product may be created when it is exposed to flame. Further, the increased chemical content creates indoor air pollution by these same chemicals when they volatilize.
One problem well known in the art of glass fabrics is the difficulty of coloring yarns or the products resulting therefrom which are substantially comprised of glass fibers as disclosed in U.S. Pat No. 2,955,053 at column 1, lines 52-65. It is well known that fabrics fashioned of glass cannot be dyed as cotton or rayon, for example. By reason of the chemical inertness of the base material dyeing techniques are ineffective on such materials. Accordingly, some have prime coated glass textile fiber or fabric with various adherent coatings which are capable of receiving dye substances. U.S. Pat. No. 3,589,934 discloses such a process where glass fibers or fabrics are coated with an interpolymer comprising a non-rubbery interpolymer of a polyunsaturated hydrocarbon monomer and at least one monoolefin monomer having a single copolymerizable ethylenic group. The prime coating is first cured and then the coated fabric is contacted with an organic dye. U.S. Pat. No. 3,591,408 discloses a process for coloring glass fibers and fabrics wherein the glass fibers are treated with the combination of an amino and/or epoxy silane, its silanol or polysiloxane and a fiber reactive "Procilan" dye or "Procion" dye having groupings that react with the amino or epoxy groups of the organo silicon compound to form an organo silicon compound to form an organo silicon-dye compound that becomes strongly anchored to the glass fiber surfaces with sufficient dye concentration to impart the desired color intensity.
Another problem known in the art of glass yarns is the lack of flexibility or resiliency of glass fiber products. Many have weaved in other non-glass fibers into the resultant fabric to make it more flexible. U.S. Pat. No. 2,662,044 discloses treating a mass of glass fibers in one or more combinations of steps including impregnating and bonding, to provide a product having the integrated properties of glass fibers and resinous, resin-like, or rubber-like materials.
In the late 1980's, a product marketed under the name Swedwall Chromafabric was available. The product, although initially referred to as a "fiberglass wallcovering", was a fabric used to make vertical blinds for windows. Swedwall Chromafabric had no backing and no facing, but used an additive added to the glass fiber yarns to provide stiffness. It is not stain repellant and it is not dimensionally stable so that the pick lines move over time. The composition of the product is believed to be approximately 75% fiberglass, approximately 20% flame retardant polymer coatings and approximately 5% organic and inorganic pigments. This product did not lay fiat on the wall and was so stiff that it could not be bent around corners. It was so porous that the adhesive seeped through and stained the fabric. It also absorbed significant amounts of dirt and dust in relatively short periods of time.
East German patent publication No. 154,939 (WPI Acc. No. 82-046725/49, XRAM Acc. No. C82-J04672) discloses a glass fiber sheet which can be used for front walls and outdoor surfaces and has glass fibers comprising the parameters: wt/area 150/400 g/sq.m., warp thread count 55-90 (78) threads/dm, weft thread count 20-28 (26) threads/dm, warp thread fineness 20-68 tex and weft thread fineness 450 tex. One surface is coated with a composition containing, by weight, 10-30 (15)% plasticizer-containing polyvinyl acetate, 2.5-10 (5)% polyacrylate and 60-87.5 (80)% white pigment, e.g. chalk, CaCO3 and/or lithopone. The non-coated surface is printed with a paste mixture containing 90-99% crosslinked polyacrylate and 1-10% pigment dyestuff. This material presents problems in that the plasticizer increases significantly the flammability of the end product.